Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has a global prevalence of 9-38%, with cases in the United States estimated at around 54 million. OSA is considered a sleep-related breathing disorder that accounts for obstruction of the upper airway, causing apneas.
Enrich your education and advance your career with dental sleep medicine
Perhaps you’ve heard about dental sleep medicine, but aren’t sure what it’s all about. It’s a fast-growing field – pioneered by dentists – that uses oral appliance therapy to treat snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). In fact, more dentists are needed to meet the high demand for dental sleep medicine – making now the opportune time to start preparing to enter the field.
Snoring or interrupted sleep may signal a serious condition
Forty percent of adults over 40 snore – half of them every night; and while for most of these individuals snoring may be nothing more than a social inconvenience, for more than 18 million Americans it may be a symptom of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), a potentially life-threatening condition.